Erik Karlsson

[blunas]

A little ways into the season, what do people think of him? What do you think he will end up with for points? Judging by stats alone it seems like he is playing better but I have not watched any Ottawa games recently and so cannot say for sure. He is available in about half of all Yahoo league which means a lot of people do not think he is worth owning. Curious what you guys think. I know for deeper Keeper leagues he is worth having but is he worth having in one year leagues and limited keepers?

Like I said, I hate trying to go by stats and wondering what people out there think in the hopes they have seen him play more than I have!

(I am just realizing their is a poll going on that deals with Karlsson but cannot delete this so might as well leave it up incase people want to offer opinions!)

[fungchen3]

I have watched every game Karlsson has played this season and he is starting to get into a groove now. The Sens as a whole struggled early on but have since picked up their game a bit. Karlsson is a confident kid and is showing it again now.

He is on pace for about 42-ish points right now but that is with a brutal start. But as with most young kids, he will probably hit another slump sometime during the season. So I am thinking 39-44 points for him this year is reasible, even a tad modest perhaps.

If he catches fire for a stretch of games then 48+ may be doable but I am not banking on those numbers right now. His worth in a one year league depends on who else is available. I say value him as a 40-45 pointer with a chance to flirt with 50 this year.

[JagrBomb]

I have watched every game Karlsson has played this season and he is starting to get into a groove now. The Sens as a whole struggled early on but have since picked up their game a bit. Karlsson is a confident kid and is showing it again now.

He is on pace for about 42-ish points right now but that is with a brutal start. But as with most young kids, he will probably hit another slump sometime during the season. So I am thinking 39-44 points for him this year is reasible, even a tad modest perhaps.

If he catches fire for a stretch of games then 48+ may be doable but I am not banking on those numbers right now. His worth in a one year league depends on who else is available. I say value him as a 40-45 pointer with a chance to flirt with 50 this year.

well said (y)

[fungchen3]

praba (OT) but I had to chime in on your hilarious sig. Gotta love a hated players signature, ROTFL. Poor Jake Allen!! What did he ever do to deserve such an honor??

[JagrBomb]

don't even get me started on jake allen. it was a toss up between him and mccabe...but atleast mccabe was amazing on the pp for a season or two. jake allen was terrible the one game we just needed him to be decent.

[DuklaNation]

It was good to see them finally switch Karlsson to the left pt and Gonchar to the right side on the PP. The reverse never looked comfortable for them. Expect the pts to follow after that move.

[blunas]

I have watched every game Karlsson has played this season and he is starting to get into a groove now. The Sens as a whole struggled early on but have since picked up their game a bit. Karlsson is a confident kid and is showing it again now.

He is on pace for about 42-ish points right now but that is with a brutal start. But as with most young kids, he will probably hit another slump sometime during the season. So I am thinking 39-44 points for him this year is reasible, even a tad modest perhaps.

If he catches fire for a stretch of games then 48+ may be doable but I am not banking on those numbers right now. His worth in a one year league depends on who else is available. I say value him as a 40-45 pointer with a chance to flirt with 50 this year.

Thanks, glad to hear from someone who has watched him play.

[agentzero]

For what it's worth, I have also seen almost every game this year. Offensively, you have nothing to worry about. He has all the offensive instincts in the World that you would need to run proper breakouts, run the point on the PP and manage neutral zone transitions. He makes the odd squeeze pass exiting or entering the zone, but that's just him trying to create things out there. Offence means its share of taking chances and you just have to live with that.

Defensively his positional play is pretty good and he keeps an active stick. He still gets physically overmatched quite often, which is why I liked his pairing with Kuba last year, a bigger guy to shove bodies around while Karlsson collected and moved the puck out. This year it seems he has to learn to do more himself, which is fine, but he just has to get used to the rigours of it. He's going to play more minutes and so has to adjust to that, and he's slowly showing that he is capable of handling that. He's the Sens' best offensive weapon from the D (yes, IMO, even with Gonchar there). He has a laser cannon for a slapshot and is very accurate with it. For a smaller guy, I have NO idea how he whips the puck so hard. He also makes really good passes and nice plays to keep the zone. He's a smart kid.

I'd treat him like a 40pt player this year and after that.....Sandis Ozolinsh, but only the good Ozolinsh. Nothing crappy like the lazy play and the injuries...

[Killer67]

Will Doughty always be the better choice or do you guys think Karlsson will approach his numbers in the next few years?

[dodospice]

Doughty will for the most part be the better choice......cant say always cause injurys happen. They will be close in numbers in there prime but Doughty will for the most part win by a hair each time.

[fungchen3]

Yeah, as much as I like Karlsson, he has a ways to go before we can justify him being close to Doughty.

[Supertoad12]

I like them both but would have to give a slight edge to DD. He's got the green light in LA while EK is slighly held back by Clouston and his more defensive style of play.

[fungchen3]

Karlsson looking good again tonight with a 2A so far.

[Killer67]

I hadn't been following the game when my inbox got flooded with requests for Karlsson tonight!! I'm thinking of holding onto him for now, unless he gets injured, his stock can only go up from here.

[blunas]

Finally had my fill of Erik J and so dropped him last night for Erik K, and he had 2/3 as many points tonight as EJ has had all season. Hopefully it pays off in the long run as much as it did in the short term!